Into the Light
Fashion designer Christian Siriano is an expert arbiter of luxe women’s style, an intense curator of color—and, now, an ambassador for Transitions Optical’s new brand campaign, Light Under Control. The partnership is perfectly poised to further modernize the Transitions brand, with a big focus on style and fashion. Here, EB catches up with Siriano to learn more.
On the collab…Transitions has new amazing products (Transitions Signature lens style colors and Transitions XTRActive style mirrors), and they reached out to collaborate—I’ve been wearing glasses my whole life and I was really excited. We have also made a few clothing pieces in conjunction with my resort collection that showcase the mirrors and all the amazing colors and tones.
First eyewear? Oh my gosh. I was so little. I was probably 8 years old. The difference now is that kids want to wear today’s cool eyewear even if they don’t have to.
Fav eyewear right now? I love cool ’50s vintage with a new Transitions lens. They still look like vintage—but new, fresh, and stylish.
Key clothing direction for Fall/Winter ’18/’19? My fall collection was a darker, more romantic kind of thing—inspired by this idea of a British royal dinner party, with a lot of deep red paired with fuchsia and metallic black. —Erinn Morgan
On Our Radar
THE BIGGEST TRENDS IN SIGHT…
Optical Centenarian
In 1919, Sidney and Percy Kirk converted a dilapidated sewing machine into a lens cutter. With an eye for optics, the brothers crafted handmade eyewear and delivered their specs to opticians via motorbike for faster service.
The Kirk Brothers travelled the world opening factories in the U.S. and South Africa, sourced the finest quartz from the beaches of Brazil for glass lenses, and invented bulletproof Motex glass, originally created for pilots.
Their love of optics was passed down through the family, and today Kirk & Kirk is run by Jason and Karen Kirk, who have taken the designs at this 100-year-old company to an artistic level. At SILMO this month, the company will debut the anniversary Centena Collection, hand-crafted in France of the Kirk & Kirk special grade of Italian acrylic, which weighs less than acetate. — E.M.
GOOD NEWS IN SIGHT
CooperVision has just released groundbreaking new four-year study data that shows the significant impact of a pioneering contact lens management approach to slowing the progression of myopia in children. The ongoing clinical trial is assessing a specially designed, dual-focus myopia control one-day soft contact lens in reducing the rate of progression of juvenile-onset myopia.
The lens is commercially available as Cooper-Vision MiSight in select countries, but not yet in the U.S. The study’s latest outcomes were recently presented at the BCLA Asia conference in Singapore, at which the globally increasing prevalence of myopia was among the most widely discussed issues. — E.M.
SS19
Sneak Peek
Eternally crush-worthy, Tom Ford hardly disappointed at his recent SS19 fashion show in Italy, which included Spring/Summer 2019 sunglass and optical styles on numerous looks for men and women. One key specs trend that shone through: boldly oversized silhouettes with an ultra-cool retro edge. — E.M.
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